Pages

Tuesday, October 4, 2016

What is animal hoarding?

Any species of animal can become a victim of animal hoarding. BTW this fish wasn't - it was in an aquarium at Vancouver airport.

Animal hoarding is a form of animal cruelty that impacts
the health and wellbeing of humans and animals. It is seen around the world,
even while I was in Canada at the One Welfare conference news broke of a
heartbreaking case involving a pet shop worker keeping reptiles and birds in
unacceptable conditions in his home.

then they become the only one that they believe can
provide care for animals

initially they may adopt out animals but are very
reluctant to adopt them out: rescue followed by adoption becomes rescue only
care

actively acquire animals

may have extensive network of enablers or a group
activity

A slide from Dr Robertson's presentation describing the development of pathological altruism.

According to Dr Robertson, pathological altruism is a complex syndrome believed to occur on a background of mental vulnerability, often someone who has had a rough childhood or suffered abuse. They struggle to form meaningful attachments with others, so human relationships don't meet their needs. Animals, on the other hand, provide unconditional love. This can be a source of self-esteem, but caregiving capacity is easily exceeded and the person is unable to meet the animal's needs. This can lead to dissociation, animal neglect and self neglect, and incredible suffering.

As a veterinarian I have unfortunately encountered people
who seem to fit these profiles, and as an academic I've looked into animal hoarding in Australia and learned we really only encounter the tip of the iceberg. Working with people who hoard animals is challenging as there
are two key issues: the health and wellbeing of the animals and the mental
health of the individual. The latter, whilst not the area I am trained in, is important because animal hoarders have a huge
rate of recidivism. That is, even those people who are charged with cruelty
offences will persist in acquiring additional animals. They may suffer trauma
when animals are rehomed or in cruelty investigations seized. Their self esteem may rest entirely on their relationship with these animals.

But the people who have to attend their properties and
work with them also suffer. Often hoarders live and keep animals in squalid,
unhygienic, unsafe conditions. Indeed the problem may not be discovered until
the Fire Department or utilities companies are called to deal with problems at
the property.

The Guidelines are based on the premise that the capacity
for humane care has limits for every organisation, as it does in private homes,
and that operating beyond an organisation’s capacity for care is unacceptable
practice. Capacity is determined by the available resources, abilities and
skills of persons running the shelter, and staffing.

There are different ways to look at capacity. For
example, the US National Animal Care and Control Association stipulates that at
least 15 minutes per day must be spent feeding and cleaning each animal. That
does not include enrichment which would be additional, but one simple way to
determine staff capacity is to multiply the number of animals by 15 minutes.

Ultimately animal hoarding is a form of cruelty. The
numbers of animals involved are huge – often dozens, sometimes hundreds and
occasionally a thousand or more animals (particularly in the case of reptiles
which can be confined in very small spaces). It causes suffering which is widespread,
over a long duration of time.

There is no quick easy fix.

Educating people about animal husbandry is one part of
the solution. Dr Robertson talked about animal welfare organisations, rather than
seizing animals from these properties (then creating the real logistic
nightmare of what to do with these seized animals) of establishing guardianship
and overseeing animals within the homes of hoarders.

In addition, these is a need to create alliances of first
responders who might become involved in hoarding cases, including police, fire
and ambulance staff, animal control and public health officers. One trend that is worrying is a number of veterinarians, nurses and animal carers - such as the man working in the pet store - have been charged with animal hoarding related offences. If you think about it, it makes sense: working with rescue animals is the perfect opportunity to acquire more. Which goes to show this is a pattern of behaviour we need to be aware of and look out for.

Veterinary Ethics: Navigating Tough Cases

WARNING

All images and content on this site are copyright Anne Fawcett unless stated otherwise and should not be reproduced without written permission. Please be aware that some surgical and clinical images are used on this site.